Oman- Colleges putting power back in students' hands

Date

6/30/2016 7:13:39 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

Higher education in Oman is being revolutionised and it''s putting power back in the hands of students.

The old philosophy said colleges were meant to prepare students for the workforce. The new way says students who graduate will be able to create their own jobs.

Colleges in Oman are now required to teach entrepreneurship to all students. The SME Development Fund (SMEF), which was established in 2014, is spearheading the government''s efforts.

SMEF also runs a Certified Entrepreneurship Educator Programme which trains teachers on how to teach entrepreneurship. This programme involves 40 teachers from 20 different institutions who participate in several modules led by experts. When the teachers complete the programme, they will then be able to spread the knowledge among the rest of the staff. The programme is expected to be complete by the end of the year
SMEF also helps colleges organise competitions and activities which give students a chance to apply what they learn.

Among these:

The Ten Riyal Challenge, where students have to use RO10 to make and sell a product and earn a profit within four days. Groups of students compete and a winner is finally selected. Six colleges have participated in this. They are Middle East College, Majan College, College of Applied Sciences (CAS) Rustaq, CAS Ibri, Waljat College and Salalah Technical College. In the Campus Company Project - Colleges in Oman will host companies completely run by students on campus. For example, this could be a college''s stationery shop or cafeteria. This is expected to begin in several colleges the next academic year. Meet an Entrepreneur, where an entrepreneur visits the college and talks about his/her experience. Movie screenings which focus on the stories of entrepreneurs. Newspaper activity, where students have to read the newspaper and get an idea about a new product or service that can be useful to the public. Muscat Daily decided to see just how entrepreneurship is changing education in Oman, and what effects it''s having on students. To get an idea, the newspaper visited three colleges: Majan College, College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS) and Middle East College (MEC). The newspaper met students who were already getting experience running a business. It got introduced to offices and departments strictly dedicated to entrepreneurship. And it learnt of ambitious plans that were helping students run businesses while they are still studying. It was clear that no matter the path the students take in the future, the new way of learning was creating a new type of graduate.
(This article is first of a four-part series)

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